San Francisco vindicator., 1887-08-13
ENGLISH sPARRoWS.
Pugnacious Little Birds Which Are Driving
Out Native Songsters.

=
Purnacious Little Birds which Are Driving
Out Native Songsters.
Just after the war, before the benches
in the parks were reserved for the ex-
elusive use of nurse girls and park
policemen, a naturalist, who lived in
the parks when he had nothing else to
do, discovered that the shade trees were
being slowly killed by the caterpillars
and other insects. He wrote big let
ter to one of the newspapers, and
somebody advised the Park Commits
sioners to import English sparrows to
check the evil. Acting upon the sugg-
gestion, basketful of the birds was
brought over from England in the fall
of 1866 and set free in Fairmount Park,
Philadelphia. They did so well that in
the following year another batch was
let loose in Central Park.
1t was not long before it was dis
covered that the sparrows didn't eat
insects at all. and instead OF boon
they became nuisance.
Like many foreigners, they acted as
if the country was made for them, and
they set to work driving out the other
birds whose ancestors lived here before
the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
They bossed the wrens, teased the blue
jays and took possession OF all the nice
houses which the Park Commissioners
had built in the shade trees. They bred
fast, and in few years the army was
strong enough to fight all the other
tribes of birds together. One by one
they drove out the orioles and made it
so uncomfortable for the robins that
they moved into the country, and soon
they had the field all to themselves. In
the meantime the caterpillars held high
carnival.
Then the cry went up that the spar
row was a nuisance and ought to go.
DIR. Merriam, who is at the head of the
scientific branch of the Department OF
Agriculture, sent out printed circulars
to the farmers all over the country ask
ing them to pass judgment on the spar
row. He received over two thousand
replies, and not a single one of them
had good word for the sparrow.
Ornithologist Assemblyman Erwin
was muoh interested in the matter, and
through his efforts the last Legislature
passed bill making it misdemeanor
punishable by arrest and fine to feed
sparrows or harbor them.
Something ought to be done to
check the ravages of the sparrows,
said Mr.. c. G. Amery, Secretary of the
Audubon Society, '.for there's no doubt
that they are Objectionable. In my
opinion it would be best to treat them
just like the other game birds-that is,
protect them at certain seasons and al
low sportsmen to slaughter them at will
during the rest of the year. 1 think it
would be well to set bounty on the
sparrow's head, say a cent for each.
This would encourage the gamins to
kill them and give them a chance to
earn few honest pennies.
Restaurants would cheerfully pay two
cents more for the birds, which, by the
way, are exec llent eating and often
palmed off for the more gamy reed
bird. The domestic sparro w is not mi
gratory bird and never leaves the towns
or villages, and only few journey to
the country. They are very pugnaeious
and can fight any bird of their size.
They eat grain and the scraps of food
to be found in the ash-barrels and gut
ters, and full-fedged sparrow would
~ oop1acaan1 to tho fat h
worm, even if he were almost starved.
1t is singular fact that the young can
only be raised by feeding them with
insects until they are big enough to take
care of themselves, but after that they
live like their parents. They breed
from three to four times year and can
stand any sort of climate, hot or cold.
Although they have only been in this
country a little over twenty years, they
have migrated West rapidly, and can
be found almost anywhere east of the
Mississippi. I remember when they
were first introduced into India, where
they followed the English army during
the war, and in less than five years they
were settled in large numbers in the
Punjab and Afghanistan.
"They have practically driven out all
the song birds, and even the swallows
that used to build their nests under the
caves of our houses here. have been
forced to seek another home"
I The writer saw desperate battle be-
tween big sparrow and swallow the
other day. The swallow had built its
nest under the canopy of tall CHM
ney. One fine morning a sparrow ap-
preached, and, perching himself on the
nest, peered saucily into it, and began
to peck at the poor swallow, who was
seated on her eggs. A desperate battle
ensued. Unable to defend herself In
her cramped-up position, the swallow
J left her nest and flew to the roof to get
away from her tormentor, who followed
and renewed the battle. The sparrow,
being more skilled in the art of war
] fare, had the best of it, and after cruelty
pounding the swallow drove her off,
and then returned to the nest and wan
tonly destroyed the eggs.
Even the most ardent champions of
the English sparrow eeneede that he is
an enemy to the small American song
birds, and unless something is done to
check him he win ultimately extermin-
ate them. The farmers also complain
that the sparrow destroys the buds of
fruit trees and bushes.-N Y World